Baby nightwakings ...not sure how to approach it?

[Jiinx]

Hi everyone
My first two girls slept through the night at 5.5 and 6 months, with maybe a feed in the middle of the night.

My third isn't so much As a baby he slept 13 hours without a feed no problems..even as he got older he'd sleep. He's 8 months now and he has a minimum of 1 wake (rare) to 3 wakes. 2 and 3 wakings are more of the norm with two being more frequent.

He takes in a full feed at those times too. He's on breakfast as his solids but I find too much will give him stomach cramps. He feeds throughout the day and has many full diapers, so I'm not sure if it's a matter of him not getting enough milk? And he slept fine as a baby...?

If he wakes before 1 am I will shush pat him to sleep..and he goes. As the night progresses it can take up to 1 hour of shush patting but he will eventually sleep. It's just I'm exhausted the next day with three kids.

He feeds usually between 1-3 and sleeps for 2-3 hours and feeds again until 9am and he's up.

His routine is pretty solid. His sisters did one nap pretty early onwards too. If he does less than 4 hours he's up on 1.5 hours or less.

So from his wake up I give him 4-4.5 hours of A time. Then he naps from 2.5 - 3 hours and then I put him down 4.5 hours later. I've tried 4 hours to bed too. I don't think his routine affects his night though...he could be so OT and his nights aren't any different. He could be UT and his nights aren't different. I just don't know what to do....

thanks!
sarah

[becj86]

How many milk feeds is he getting in his day? Is there a difference when he gets 8hr awake (2x4hr) vs 9hr awake (2x4.5hr) in the day?

How long have the wakings been happening? Is he currently doing anything developmental that could increase his caloric requirement? Teeth? L did have waking every few hours with teeth...

[Jiinx]

Hi!
 I was hoping to figure this out on my own but it's not working :S

 I don't think there's much of a difference. I just know he's super cranky if he doesn't get his 12 hour night. He's doing lots developmentally - he's learning to stand and pulling himself to stand. He could be getting his teeth; he doesn't have any right now. He's got a runny nose and gets really angry/cries for like 20-30 minnute periods. I've been having to medicate him which helps during the day, but not during the night.

Last night, he woke at 12:30, which is early for him, and I shush patted/pUPD for two hours. I had no idea if I was doing the right thing but he settled at 2:30 and fell asleep until 6:15. I'm not sure he needs the extra food at night bc he feeds a lot during the day. He gets a full feed after he wakes, before his nap, after his nap and then in the evening and then before bed :p

What do you think?

[becj86]

I think you have a wee puzzle on your hands.

I would've thought 5 feeds to be enough but one NF at this age is still within the realms of normal. If you reckon he could go through without the feed, you could certainly do the ST if he wakes - I think given he slept the rest of the night suggests he probably wasn't hungry or he'd have woken again surely, especially with the energy PUPD for 2hr uses.

[Jiinx]

ST..? sleep through?

I think he's just used to me feeding him when he wakes, but this one took two hours. Usually takes one hour. I wasn't doing PUPD the whole time. Just a few times..

So just continue then? Omit all feeds? I don't mind the feeds...he's my last and he's so delicious to hold. lol. But i do enjoy sleeping too :s

I know my others didn't have any feeds past 7 months..but each baby's different.

[becj86]

Yeah, see L had an NF til ~11-12 months. I didn't worry that much about it after we tried for 3hr to get him to go back to sleep and then DH gave in and told me to feed him so I said its not worth trying to get rid of it.

ST = sleep training

To be honest, I think its sometimes easier and results in more sleep if you just feed and go back to bed, yk? I don't know if that's still really the case with multiple waking at this age, maybe you pick a time before which you won't feed and/or an interval of time between feeds and do shush/pat or feed based on that. 

[Jiinx]

It definitely results in more sleep when I feed him. He's fully awake after his feed so he's not using it as a sleep prop. Perhaps his gums or tummy hurts and he's using it for comfort or just wants his tummy full.

So I have two wakings. One bw 1-3am and one bw 5-6:30am. Should I feed on only one? I shush patted/PUPD this morning at 5:45-6:45, and fed at the 1:15am feeding. Should I be more consistent?

Thanks!

[becj86]

IIWM, I'd just feed at both given:
- he's not using it to get to sleep;
- he's not on much by way of solids; and
- he's probably becoming more active.

If you want to, you could shush/pat the first waking and feed not before 4 or 5am and see if that gets him through to morning but my guess would be that given WU is 9am, it might not :-/

[Jiinx]

Sorry It's me again..

Feeling a bit sorry for my ds. He's been really uncomfortable at night. He woke an hour and half after sleeping. And then when he woke twice for his usual feed and after 20-30 minutes after I put him back to sleep, he cried for me again. I had to coax him back to sleep with a bit of shush pat and pupd but he just was really uncomfortable and wriggling around.

I guess this isn't a night waking issue anymore. I've been giving him solids only for breakfast (and only fruit/veg puree) which causes him to cry for the rest of the day and using milk to try and push a bowel movement out. Some days he has three movements in one afternoon. He's not constipated as the bowels are soft..



I don't think he's terribly hungry at night as he's not too hungry when he wakes.

[becj86]

Poor little fellow

Are the stools runny or soft? Just wondering if he is blocked up?

Is it always stool or is gas an issue?

Is the squirminess related to any particular foods? DYT its worth doing a food diary?

Have you seen a doctor - has this been an issue since he started solids and now getting worse?

[Jiinx]

Hey hun,
 It's been a busy few days.

 So his tooth is just cutting so maybe there's some relief coming for him.
 
 And yes, it dawned on me that night you gave me advice that he is sensitive to milk proteins. My girls were too. I felt so silly. Since I've stopped having dairy products, he doesn't have crampings now.

 He still wakes twice a night. Yesterday, I didn't give him solids bc I was rushing to the airport and doing errands and he napped great and he only woke once at night and is still sleeping - which he hasn't done in awhile. It could be related or he could be getting sick - he sleeps long just before a fever ..:S

thanks for letting me talk it out. ..

sarah

[becj86]

Hope he's not sick xx

I'm not sure how much I've really helped but any time I can be there to bounce ideas, I'm happy to do. FX things settle for you soon.